general.  From noon till evening the battle raged, with a carnage rarely recorded in history.  Don John’s own ship lay yard-arm and yard-arm with the Turkish Admiral, and exposed to the fire of seven large vessels besides.  It was a day when personal, audacity, not skilful tactics, was demanded, and the imperial bastard showed the metal he was made of.  The Turkish Admiral’s ship was destroyed, his head exposed from Don John’s deck upon a pike, and the trophy became the signal for a general panic and a complete victory.  By sunset the battle had been won.

Of nearly three hundred Turkish galleys, but fifty made their escape.  From twenty-five to thirty thousand Turks were slain, and perhaps ten thousand Christians.  The galley-slaves on both sides fought well, and the only beneficial result of the victory was the liberation of several thousand Christian captives.  It is true that their liberty was purchased with the lives of a nearly equal number of Christian soldiers, and by the reduction to slavery of almost as many thousand Mussulmen, duly distributed among the Christian victors.  Many causes—­contributed to this splendid triumph.  The Turkish ships, inferior in number, were also worse manned than those of their adversaries; and their men were worse armed.  Every bullet of the Christians told on muslin turbans and embroidered tunics, while the arrows of the Moslems fell harmless on the casques and corslets of their foes.  The Turks, too, had committed the fatal error of fighting upon a lee shore.  Having no sea room, and being repelled in their first onset, many galleys were driven upon the rocks, to be destroyed with all their crews.

[Cabrera says that thirty thousand Turks were slain, ten thousand made prisoners, ten thousand Christians killed, and fifteen thousand Christian prisoners liberated, ix. 693.  De Thou’s estimate is twenty-five thousand Turks killed, three thousand prisoners, and ten thousand Christians killed, vi. 247.  Brantome states the number of Turks killed at thirty thousand, without counting those who were drowned or who died afterwards of their wounds; six thousand prisoners, twelve thousand Christian prisoners liberated, and ten thousand Christians killed.  Hoofd, vi. 214, gives the figures at twenty-five thousand Turks and ten thousand Christians slain.  Bor, v. 354, makes a minute estimate, on the authority of Pietro Contareno, stating the number of Christians killed at seven thousand six hundred and fifty, that of Turks at twenty-five thousand one hundred and fifty, Turkish prisoners at three thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and Christians liberated at twelve thousand; giving the number of Turkish ships destroyed at eighty, captured fifty.  According to the “Relation cierta y verdadera,” (which was drawn up a few days after the action,) the number of Turks slain was thirty thousand and upwards, besides many prisoners, that of Christians killed was seven thousand, of Christian slaves